Buddhist States, Citizenship, and Justice

Michael Jerryson, Alan Tomhave

Abstract

On December 26, 2006, a small cadre of Thai Buddhist monks traveled to a military base in southern Thailand. In anticipation of the coming new year, it was an important time for the soldiers to make merit and they had invited one of the more prestigious abbots in the region to conduct the ceremony. After bestowing gifts upon the monks, fifty-five soldiers and two dozen women and children collected together under a canopy to listen tothe abbot’s sermon. The abbot spoke about the conflict in southern Thailand, the coming new year, and then turned to the need for democracy.